
Original Parish Church
PARISH HISTORY
The
parish of St. Pius X was constituted in 1956. Monsignor R.V.
MacKenzie, rector of St. Dunstan's University, was the founding
pastor.
By
the end of 1956, a modest church with basement hall opened its doors
and three years later a new parochial house was added. Ongoing parish
growth made larger accommodations necessary and in 1973 the
present-day church was completed with the former one becoming a
parish centre. Today, with over 2300 families, St. Pius X Parish is
the largest in the diocese of Charlottetown.
Mount
St. Mary's, the mother house of the Sisters of Saint Martha, lies
within the parish and over the years the sisters have contributed
substantially to the life of the parish community. More recently
several Sisters of Notre Dame have resided in and enriched parish
life.
In
1980 the pastor of the day, Father Faber MacDonald, became the Bishop
of Grand Falls, Newfoundland. In 1999 he became Bishop of the Saint
John, New Brunswick.
St.
Pius X was canonized in 1954, just two years before the founding of
the parish. A reform pope (1903-1914), he called for greater
participation in the liturgy and restored the high place of
liturgical music. In particular he issued a call to the laity to a
greater share in the renewal of the Church.
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